Pacific Voyagers, Fiji Pilot Project with Vaka Motu Okeanos 1 Inter-island Transport in Fiji Powered by Renewable Energy Abstract Introduction The Pacific Islands meets in average 80% of their energy needs from imported fossil fuel and quarter of their total import on diesel (Pacifc Energy Summit, 2013). Less then 10% of their energy demand comes from renewable domestic sources. Transport to remote islands becomes hugely costly because of the imported fuel and that the islands populations are not large enough to sustain a commercial ferry services with big vessels with high running costs. Fiji consists of 300 islands and 97 of those are inhabited (Mario, 2003) and have a population of about 844000. However developed commercial activity is concentrated to Viti Levu and Vanua Levu while the rural islands are depending on traditional work like farming and fishing (Fiji Bureau of Statistics, 2007). Now the outer islands are dependent on government shipping and a few subsidized commercial operators. In many cases the population will have to use small unsafe fibre boats with outboards and run regulary 60nm or more with passengers and cargo to comply with the most urgent needs. Pacific voyagers have operated 7 solar/wind powered vessels since 2009. 2011 Pacific Voyagers built a small solar/wind powered cargo vessel capable of transporting a total load of 4t or 20pax estimated to satisfy the transport need of a of typical 2-300 people village in a remote pacific island. The design incorporates information shared from many different island groups, resulting in a design specific to Pacific inter-island transport. The prototype vessel Okeanos is 14,8m long \, double hull solar/wind powered vessel with auxiliary electrical motors that assist maneuvering in harbor and lagoon areas. The solar is charged from 8 solar panels and/or from the motors set in a ReGen mode that generate power while sailing. Okeanos is unique in her zero emission/zero fossil fuel dependence approach. During the period April-July 2013 Pacific Voyagers Okeanos was conducting a research project in Fiji. The aim was to collect baseline data from rural islands in Fiji to see and test how a wind and solar powered smaller sailing vessel could work as a transport solution to isolated islands and villages. Method Pacific Voyagers operated the prototype vessel Okeanos in Fiji between April and July 2013. Okeanos is unique in her non-fossil fuel dependence approach. She is solely propelled with Solar Power through 2 electric motors and wind, through an simple but efficient Bermuda rig. Okeanos is a 14,8m long double hull sailing vessel capable of taking a load of 4 tons in mix of passengers and cargo. The design is highly flexible to accommodate a variety of use from carrying passengers and cargo, to fishing. The double hull configurations shallow draft allows the vessel to land directly on a beach and reach shallow areas where normally boats can’t sail. This is a significant advantage as Okeanos can sail straight to many villages who normally depend on secondary transport to a jetty with proficient depth for a inter island ferry to dock (appendix 1). The vessel is not registered in Fiji’s ships registry which is a requirement to operate a ship commercially in Fiji. Instead Okeanos obtain a temporary research license to comply with the Maritime Authority and the Transport Ministry. However the research permit prevented fully commercial operations, i.e charging to transport passengers and cargo. The Maritime Safety Authority Fiji (MSAF) certified Okeanos to take 8 passengers and a total of 4 tons load including passengers and cargo. Okeanos arrived in Fiji in April. Four weeks were used for securing the necessary document to be able to use Okeanos for transporting goods and passengers in Fiji. Preparations for the trial started in February 2012 but the administrative traditions in the country demanded face to face discussions hence the actual preparations started not until in April. Data about transport cost was collected through research and interviews. Value of the transportation Okeanos performed was estimated on the current freight charges in the area. During the trial period Okeanos was set up to run with a crew of four, one skipper and three deckhands. The skipper was on a full time contract and the deckhands on daily rate contracts. The trials to transport cargo and passengers was concentrated to 3rd May to 4th June. Interviews were done opportunistically during the whole period until the 7th July. Interviews During the period 20th April to 7th July Okeanos visited 24 villages in Gau, Kadavu, Yasawa’s. Through 40 interviews baseline data was collected about current transport needs, the methods used and costs in the islands and villages: Current transport cost/frequency Type of transport (ferry/private) Passenger/Cargo Type of cargo Typical village needs Sail/Solar Transport Trials The project was limited in time therefore it was chosen to concentrate the transport routes to Gau and Kadavu for the main reasons; 1. Main ports, Nawaikama in Gau and Vunisea in Kadavu are of similar distance from Suva, about 57 respectively 60nm. 2. The course over ground is almost perpendicular to each other, Gau is east of Suva and Kadavu south. 3. Contacts in the villages were established in April. 4. Gau is part of the uneconomical routes and Kadavu is economical. Through the sailing trials data was collected about the vessels capacity and performance to establish the suitability of the design. It was also important to find out how the crew performed and could operate the vessel, how passengers found the experience to travel on a sailing vessel, what the administrative needs were and what kind of licenses and permits was needed to operate commercially. Results Between 3rd May and 4th June Okeanos did 16 sails between Suva, Gau and Kadavu. 14 of those were with cargo and passengers. Suva was used as the base and returning port. One return sail to Kadavu aimed to establish contact in a village and did not take cargo. Each sail was aiming to minimize the total time spend until Okeanos returned to Suva. On the 14 sails Okeanos transported a total of 21797kg of cargo and 55 passengers, a mean of 1557kg and 4 passengers per sail. This is about half of Okeanos current allowed capacity in Fiji of 8 passengers and about 3tonns. Of the transported goods, 85% consisted of root crops and copra/coconut being transported from the islands to Suva and building material, house hold equipment being transported to the island from Suva. 15% was food stores and fuel to the islands. In 31 days (May) – 16 sails Max load: 3660 kg / 3 pax Tabel 1 Average load/sail: 1557 kg / 4 pax / village In average each round sail took 3 days or 1,5days per way including loading and unloading cargo and passengers, rest for the crew and waiting for the right winds and weather. However there is a large difference in travel time between Gau and Kadavu. A return sail from Suva to Gau takes on average 3,4 days or 1,7 days one way. A return sail from Suva to Kadavu takes on average 2,3 days or 1,15 days one way. Okeanos spend about 33% more time and effort sailing between Suva and Gau compared to Suva and Kadavu. The fastest sailing time to Kadavu and Solomdavu was 7hrs 45min with an average speed of 8,4kn. The average speed over 5 sails to Kadavu was 6,7kn and took 8h54min. To Gau the average time was 15h to Nawaikama. Interviews In all the islands and villages the main need for transport is to get income generating produce to a market and to bring food stores and building material back to the villages. The reminder is personal transport to education institutions, for trading, family functions and occasional village functions. The costs for transporting the cargo on the ferry to and from Suva are similar in Kadavu and Gau and generalized over four categories: 30-40kg Bags-Which usually is produce, copra, building material, coconuts 15kg Boxes-Usually food stores, house hold equipment 10kg Buckets-usually sea food 44Ib Drum-fuel Tabel 2 Ferry Prices Kadavu/Lomaiviti Ferry Prices Yasava Coconut 0,17 $/kg Coconut 0,5 $/kg Yem 0,17 $/kg Yem 0,5 $/kg Yaqona 0,17 $/kg Yaqona 0,5 $/kg Dalo 0,17 $/kg Dalo 0,5 $/kg Cassava 0,17 $/kg Cassava 0,5 $/kg Copra 0,17 $/kg Copra 0,5 $/kg Rice 0,17 $/kg Rice 0,5 $/kg Flour 0,17 $/kg Flour 0,5 $/kg Sugar 0,17 $/kg Sugar 0,5 $/kg Cement 0,17 $/kg Cement 0,5 $/kg Food stores 0,27 $/kg Food stores 0,67 $/kg Building material 0,27 $/kg Building material 0,67 $/kg Sasalu 0,3 $/kg Sasalu 0,5 $/kg Crabs 0,3 $/kg Crabs 0,5 $/kg Fish 0,3 $/kg Fish 0,5 $/kg Fuel 0,12 $/ltr Fuel 0,15 $/ltr Passenger Kadavu 55 $/pax Passanger 85 $/pax Passanger Gau 70 $/pax Yasawa-i-rara If the current commercial ferry charges are applied to the kind and amount of cargo and passengers Okeanos transported in May it could have generated $7487FJD on the 14 cargo sails done in 22 sailing days or 340FJD per day (appendix 2). The islands have few or no roads or even paths in some cases. The main intra island transport is by fibre boats or walking. There is a main port and the villages that are not located next to it have high additional transport cost.